Zutara: Legendary
by eleew
Summary: A mainly OC story that takes place three generations after Sozin's Comet. The Zutara legacy is carried on through history. Based on the Zutara Week 2011 prompt "Legendary."


"Students, you must be on your_ best_ behavior today on our field trip. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Madam Li Zo," My class and I chime back. Madam Li Zo stares us down, like she's waiting for one of us to yell, _No, I _don't_ understand! I'm going to get into the Capitol and break everything in sight, spit in the officials' faces, and tell Fire Lord Iroh what my parents whisper about him behind his back!_

I roll my eyes. Madam Li Zo treats each of us like we're two-year-olds. Granted, some students in my class might act like they're two, but the majority of us act our age.

We're in the Fire Nation capital city today for the trip every class takes sooner or later. We tour the Capitol, learn how our government works, why it's important, and are given the, "You can make this nation a better place!" speech. We're also going to be told a long, drawn out history of the Fire Nation from when the islands were first formed by a collision of fire, water, and earth spirits through the present day rule of our current Fire Lord, Iroh. No doubt the majority of that awful history lesson will be spent on the Great War. Of all the historians I've ever heard speak about our nation's history, that's their favorite part. I'll probably just sleep through most of the lecture, I've heard it all a thousand times before. My parents, grandparents, and all of my teachers since before I can remember have told me countless times about the brutality and destruction of our country upon the Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, and Air Nomads, and how the Avatar stopped it all in less than a year of his return. I yawn just thinking about it. Yep, I'll definitely have myself a nice little nap later.

"Ahna Shi!" Madam Li Zo screams my name from behind the attendance scroll.

"Present." I call back.

Madam Li Zo yells a few more names, then instructs us to form a single file line behind her. My class and I rearrange ourselves from a discombobulated amoeba into a perfectly organized line. Ah, the skills you acquire when you attend a Fire Nation school all your life.

Madam Li Zo surveys us one last time to make sure no one has been left out of the line or is making faces.

"Students, I would like to remind you that today you are a representation of our school and city, so please act accordingly. Any inappropriate or rude behavior will result in an immediate ceasing of the tour or presentation and the extraction of the perpetrator from the remainder of today's activities. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Madam Li Zo," My classmates and I sound more like an army of zombies than a class of fourteen-year-olds.

"Very well. Do not speak unless you are spoken to. If you have a question, wait until an appropriate time, raise your hand, and wait for a guide or me to call on you." With that, Madam Li Zo spins on her heel and begins striding toward the enormous doors to the Fire Nation Capitol.

"This is just going to be one huge Fire Nation history lesson, except there's no bell to end it." My best friend Komo mutters under his breath. I nod my agreement.

The path to the Capitol is lined with guards on both sides, fully clad in armor, even though it must be near a hundred degrees with humidity for an extra kick.

As we walk through the Capitol's imposing red doors, I can't help but marvel at their workmanship. The royal palace was built long before the Great War even began, during Fire Lord Sozin's reign. Yet the only building that rivaled its beauty and architecture was Avatar Roku's temple on Crescent Island, constructed at the same time. The original building was destroyed during the War, but Fire Lord Zuko had it rebuilt, as a symbol of the Fire Nation's allegiance to the Avatar. It's said that Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang were good friends, and that he even taught the Avatar firebending.

Inside the Capitol, I can barely see because the light is so dim. For a nation based on the light-giving element, our leader's home is very dark. Go figure.

Once we're all inside and my eyes adjust to the darkness of the foyer, I spot a young woman in red imperial garb walking from behind a large column toward us. She must be our guide.

Madam Li Zo catches sight of the woman, gasps, and immediately drops to her knees in the traditional posture of servitude and respect. My classmates and I follow suit, even though we don't know why. Still, it never hurts to show someone respect.

The woman laughs, and suddenly I feel like a fool. Here I am, my nose to the polished obsidian floor, and this mystery woman is probably no more than a maid.

"Please," The woman says, gliding to Madam Li Zo and extending a hand to help her up. "You do not need to do that."

Madam Li Zo hesitantly looks up at the woman. "But, your royal highness-"

"Oh, please," the woman cuts Madam Li Zo off. "None of that. Call me Ursa." Ursa smiles at our teacher and once again offers her hand.

Madam Li Zo eyes Ursa's hand as if it were a rabid hogmonkey, then grasps it and stands. Once she gets to her feet, she gestures for us to do the same and turns back to Ursa.

"Forgive me, but I don't understand. Are you not Princess Ursa?" Madam Li Zo asks, giving Ursa a once-over.

"Why, yes." Ursa answers with a smile. My whole class gasps, including me. We weren't planning on having the Fire Lord's granddaughter as our tour guide.

"Then why…?" Calling royals by their first names is obviously past Madam Lo Zi's comprehension.

The princess smiles kindly at Madam Lo Zi. "Be so informal about it? Well, I prefer not to be treated as though I am different from any one of you," Ursa gestures to our class, now talking to all of us. "Mainly because I am not. The only difference between us is that I live in a palace, which, between you and me, can get lonely at times," Ursa winks. "But if you prefer, you may call me Princess, although I would really rather you call me by name."

"Thank you, Princess." Madam Li Zo curtsies slightly.

"Now," Ursa clasps her hands and it's her turn to give us a once-over. "I presume that this is the class from Zhi Do?"

"Yes, ma'am." Madam Li Zo answers, her eyes lowered. It seems she still wants to treat Ursa like a princess.

"Excellent! If you would please follow me, we will begin our tour." Ursa takes off down the long foyer and we follow behind her.

"Man, Ursa is hot!" Komo leans forward and whispers in my ear. Luckily, he's close enough so that I can elbow him in the gut.

"Better be careful what you say around here," I warn him. "There are plenty of firebenders around here that could make _you_ way hotter than she'll ever be. Plus, I heard that the Avatar is in town, and you really don't want to make her mad."

"Chill out, Ahna," Komo says, poking me in the shoulder. "All I said was that the princess doesn't disappoint when it comes to the 'beautiful princess' stereotype."

I don't get a chance to reply, because Ursa begins the speech that we've all been dreading. She starts the tour just how I expected, to my disappointment. I'd hoped that since Ursa wasn't a typical royal, the tour wouldn't a typical history lesson. Nevertheless, the story of colliding spirits begins.

Ursa manages to slip in some facts that I've never heard before, so I don't completely lose consciousness, but with Fire Nation history displayed through giant frescoes on the walls, it feels like Ursa is reading a children's scroll to us. Great. Yet another person who thinks we're toddlers.

After thousands of years and what feels like millions of hours, we finally reach the Great War, the last piece of Fire Nation history to be recorded on the palace walls. I can see that even Ursa is losing steam, but something perks her up. I can't tell what, so I scan the mural we're standing in front of. There's nothing unusual about it. The wall shows air ships, tanks, Fire Navy ships, and lots of destroyed buildings, including Air Temples and the wall of Ba Sing Se in the Earth Kingdom. In the upper left corner are Avatar Aang, Fire Lord Zuko, an earthbender, a waterbender, and a Water Tribe warrior. They're all young, the oldest being Fire Lord Zuko, but he still doesn't look more than a few years older than I am.

"I'm sure you all know the story of the Great War," Ursa says, gazing up at the fresco. "So I won't go into very much detail, just review the basics."

Ursa proceeds to tell us how Fire Lord Sozin began the War, wiping out the Air Nomads, then continuing on to attack the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom. She tells us about the Avatar's return, how he mastered the elements in less than a year, and defeated Fire Lord Ozai by taking his firebending away.

Ursa pauses, probably waiting for an "ooh," or "aah," but the only audience she'd get that reaction from would be a group of babies. We've all had it drilled into us since birth how amazing it was for Avatar Aang to prevent Fire Lord Ozai from firebending ever again, and quite frankly, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore.

"But that's not the best part of this story," Ursa says, her eyes still glued to the fresco. "The greatest heroes of the Great War were not generals or armies or even machines. They were kids," Ursa gestures toward the five people in the mural. "The oldest was Fire Lord Zuko, but even he was only seventeen. Avatar Aang, in appearance and maturity, was only twelve years old, even though he had been in the Avatar State for one hundred years in an iceberg. The Avatar, along with his friends and teachers, brought peace to the world. His earthbending teacher, Master Toph, was unyielding and stubborn," Ursa points at the small, black-haired girl bending a piece of metal. "She was also blind, but used that to her advantage. She learned to see through her earthbending, and invented metalbending. To this day, not many earthbenders are able to do that," Now Ursa points at the girl waterbending. "That was Master Katara, Avatar Aang's waterbending teacher. She was kind and helped everyone she could, but was fierce in battle. She proved to be quite a match for Fire Lord Zuko on more than one occasion," Ursa chuckles to herself, leaving my classmates and I to wonder why.

_Oh great, now you've done it,_ I think. _Now you've gone and prompted our dirty little minds to wallow in the gutter. Nice one, Ursa._

"Next to Master Katara," Ursa clears her throat and continues. "Is her brother, Chief Sokka. He was not a bender, but was a great warrior nonetheless. He was brave and wise, and most importantly, no matter how bad something was, he didn't let it get him down," Ursa keeps staring at the mural for a while. So long, in fact, that my classmates and I start to fidget and whisper. Finally, Ursa speaks again. "These five kids practically changed the world. You may think that you're too young or weak to do anything, but you just have to believe that you can do _everything_," For the first time since we arrived at the fresco of the Great War, Ursa turns around to face us. "It took three grown men to make our country a ruthless, power-hungry nation and become an enemy of the world, but it only took one young man to change it back into a place of love and posterity. Granted, it was not an easy task, but when would it ever have been? Fire Lord Zuko was just a teenager when he assumed the throne after his father, Fire Lord Ozai. He is part of why this country is what it is today. Each of you will have an effect on this nation, but the question is whether or not it will be recounted generation after generation."

I look up again at the mural, and really study it this time. Fire Lord Zuko is in a firebending position, but he's not looking at his target, he's looking to his right, at Master Katara. For a brief moment I wonder why, then it hits me. _She proved to be quite a match for Fire Lord Zuko on more than one occasion,_ Ursa had said. And in more than one arena, I'll wager. But Fire Lord Zuko was married to Fire Lady Mai, and I remember reading somewhere that Avatar Aang fell in love with his waterbending master and married her.

I shift my gaze to the painting of Avatar Aang. He's airbending, but he's looking at Master Katara, too!

I'm dying to get more details on this thing that I may have discovered, but how to phrase it so that I'd be politically correct…

I raise my hand.

Ursa spots me. "Yes, and your name?"

"Ahna Shi, ma'am," I say, dipping slightly. "I notice that both Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang are bending in the painting, but neither are looking at their target."

"Really?" Ursa raises her eyebrows, but she doesn't turn around to look at the fresco. "Well, that's interesting, isn't it? Must have been a mistake on the painter's part. I'll have to get that taken care of." Ursa sounds like she believes that having both the Avatar and the Fire Lord focus on the waterbender is a mistake, but before she turns around to lead us out of the room, she winks at me.

"So, still think the princess is hot?" I ask Komo with a piece of komodo chicken in my mouth.

"Nah," Komo says, pausing to slurp his noodles. "No way I can like a chick who knows that much."

"What's wrong with intelligent girls?" I cock my head and raise an eyebrow, trying my hardest to look peeved.

"They _know_ they're smarter than you, so you can't get them to do anything you want, because they've got a better idea or something." Komo explains this to me as if I should already know.

"Well excuse me for not wanting to do everything the hard way." I tease him.

"Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Ursa is standing above me and Komo with a bowl of food and chopsticks in her hand and a smile on her face.

I quickly shake my head and Komo sucks up the half noodle that is sticking out of his mouth.

"Good. May I eat with you?" Ursa asks.

Komo and I look at each other, then turn back to Ursa.

"Of course." I say, scooting over to make room on the bench where Komo and I are sitting.

"Oh, that won't be necessary," Ursa says, and promptly sits cross-legged on the stone ground. "But thank you, though." Ursa flashes another of her smiles, which she seems to distribute very liberally.

"No problem." I say, dubious. I glance at Komo, but he just shrugs.

Ursa pushes the food around in her bowl with her chopsticks for a while, then looks at me. "You're a bright girl, Ahna." She says.

I nearly choke on my komodo chicken. "Sorry?"

"Not many people notice the hidden love triangle in that last mural."

"So it wasn't a mistake, then?" I ask. "That both Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang are looking at Master Katara?"

"Oh, no, that was quite deliberate. My great-grandfather, Fire Lord Zuko himself, requested that the mural be painted that way." Ursa took a bite of rice.

"Really?" Komo and I say in unison.

"Yes." Ursa nods.

"But, why?" Komo asks.

"Well, legend has it- and this is just a legend, mind you- that Fire Lord Zuko, along with Avatar Aang, and quite a few others," Ursa mutters the last part of that sentence. "Was deeply in love with Master Katara."

"No way!" I think my suspicions are correct, until I remember how the air nomads were repopulated. "But didn't Master Katara love Avatar Aang?"

Ursa seems hesitant to answer that question. "Well, that's debatable."

"So, she loved Fire Lord Zuko?" I'm anxious to know every last detail of what may or may not have been a relationship between Master Katara and Fire Lord Zuko, but I don't want to scream at Ursa.

"Also debatable." Ursa takes another bite of food.

"So what you're saying is, this girl was basically a slut." Komo says.

"Komo!" I can't believe what Komo's just said, and I slap him on the arm. Thankfully, Ursa finds Komo's outburst funny and laughs.

"No, no! Well," A thought occurs to Ursa. "Depends on the way you look at it. But actually, my opinion is that Katara loved both Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang."

"But she loved the Avatar more." I say.

"I'm not going to answer that," Ursa says thoughtfully. "And I can't say whether Avatar Aang or Fire Lord Zuko loved Lady Katara more, but I do know that both of them loved her a great deal."

I wait for a moment before asking my next question, not completely sure that I wanted to know the answer. "How?"

"Because of three pieces of literature," Ursa reaches into the folds of her robes and takes out three scrolls. "One is a classic Fire Nation legend, the other two are somewhat of journal entries by Fire Lord Zuko," Ursa unfolds the first scroll. "Perhaps you have heard this story. It is called _The First Agni Kai_."

"Yeah, my mom told it to me when I was a kid." Komo says, as though he regrets his mother reading it to him.

"I've never heard of it." I say.

"Okay, here's the story in a nutshell," Komo begins. "There are these two guys, Agni and Kai, and they're both in love with this girl, Kuma. Well, she can't decide who she loves most or something, and Agni and Kai decide to battle for her affections," Komo pauses to make a gagging noise. I send an apologetic glance toward Ursa. "Anyway, she gets caught in the crossfire or something and dies. And that's pretty much it."

"Really?" I look at Ursa. "That's an awful story."

"Well, that's not the whole thing, but you get the gist of it," Ursa shrugs. "Now, read this."

Ursa passes me the second scroll and I unroll it. "_I have read the legend of the first Agni Kai, and of the lovers Agni, Kai, and Kuma. Uncle has told me that the old legends are not only true, but that they manifest themselves in today's world. If that is true, there can be no mistake: Aang and I are Agni and Kai, and Katara is Kuma. This thought frightens me greatly. I do not know if I believe such things, but if Uncle is right, I do not want any harm coming to Katara, or Aang, for that matter. Something must be done to set things straight." _When I finish reading, I look up.

"Who is-"

"Uncle?" Ursa finishes my question. "That is Fire Lord Zuko's Uncle Iroh, Fire Lord Ozai's brother. He is also who our current Fire Lord, Fire Lord Zuko's son, is named after. He was a great firebender and a very wise man."

"Then is it true that the old legends… repeat themselves?" I ask, again unsure if I want to know the answer.

"Oh, yes," Ursa answers. "Very much so. And they are not limited to only the Fire Nation, our legends appear in the other nations as well, but in slightly different forms. Have you ever heard of the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu?"

"Yes." I say.

"No." Komo states.

"Alright, now it's your turn for a lesson," I say with a grin. "Oma and Shu were from two different villages, and somehow they met and fell in love, I don't remember the specifics. The two villages were at war with each other, so it was sort of a forbidden love. In the meantime, Oma and Shu learned earthbending from the badgermoles who lived in the mountain they would meet at, and carved elaborate tunnels throughout the mountain so that no one would be able to follow them. Well, one day, Shu died in the war, and Oma was so ticked that she almost killed everyone right then and there with her earthbending, but instead, she ended the war and built a new city, called Omashu."

"Wow," Komo stares at me. "How do you remember all that? It's not even our own nation's history!"

"It's important, nonetheless," Ursa says gently. "Some may even say that the story of Agni, Kai, and Kuma is a variation of the story of Oma and Shu."

"So, Fire Lord Zuko was afraid that something awful was going to happen to Lady Katara?" I ask.

"Yes," Ursa says. "He was a very caring man. He often put others above himself."

Ursa hands me the last scroll and I take it. "_I love Katara. I am so happy whenever she is near me; I never want her to leave my side. She brings life and light to everything around her. I am who I want to be when I am with her. She makes me strive to be a better man_," I pause, reading silently down the scroll. I look at Ursa, who has her eyes closed and her chin resting on her palms. She nods, telling me to go on. "_And yet, it is because of this that I must let her go. In order to be a better man, I must make sacrifices. It will be the hardest thing I will ever do, yet I know it is for her good and for the good of the world. Being Fire Lord and friend to the Avatar means that you must sometimes sacrifice what you want for what is right. I know my decision will work out in the end, everything always does. I just hope that she sees it my way. If I don't do this, there is no telling what could happen, and for how long this nonsense will go on. If Aang ever found out about me and Katara or she stopped seeing him, it would break him. He wouldn't be able to do his duties as the Avatar. The world cannot go without an Avatar again. So I must give him Katara. No, Katara must choose him. That is why I will announce that I am taking Mai as my wife tomorrow morning. I must not be an option for Katara, that way she will surely choose Aang. I cannot say whether he or I love her more, or which of the two of us she loves more, but for Katara's sake, there can only be one, and for Aang's sake, there can be no doubt. My only wish is that Katara will always know in her heart that I love her more than anything. That is why in the new mural in the Hall of History, I have commanded the painters to make it clear that I will always be focused on Katara. Be happy, my waterbender. If you are, I am, too."_

I look up from the scroll with tears in my eyes. "That's so sad!"

"Yeah." Komo sniffs.

"Fire Lord Zuko did what he deemed was best for everyone except himself, and the world benefited," Ursa says, but I can't find conviction in her voice. "The Air Nomads are thriving, and Avatar Aang's reign was one of the most peaceful in history."

"But he didn't get the girl!" I protest.

"Life is not a romantic comedy, Ahna." Ursa tells me sadly.

"I know." I say.

"Fire Lord Zuko left a rather large mark on the world," Ursa says, hope in her eyes. "In the history scrolls and in legends. His love for Lady Katara was documented several times, and shall be passed down from generation to generation."


End file.
